It’s blummin’ Halloween again, so it’s time once more to delve into the retro vaults and rummage through some spooky titles that will give you a suitable 8-bit thrill. This year’s offering to the spirits of gaming past brings werewolves, ghouls, zombies, skeletons and serial killers…
Werewolves of London – Viz Design/Mastertronic – ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC
Released initially by Viz Design and later in 1989 by Mastertronic as a budget title, Werewolves of London puts players in control of a man cursed by an evil family. This curse turns this poor chap into a werewolf every night until the curse is lifted, and the only way to do this is by killing the remaining eight members of this family. Players will need to wander around the city by day as a human and seek out those who hold the curse over you, then at night become the werewolf and slaughter them. Hunting these villains down is made easier thanks to the flashing crosses at the bottom of the screen. Once you have made the kill, the cross is yours, and you are one step closer to being free of the curse.
Wolfy jumps over the rooftops – ZX Spectrum
Being a supernatural creature isn’t as easy as it sounds and the police will hunt you down. Being shot at will drain health (displayed as the dripping blood bag at the bottom of the screen), or even imprisoned. In human form, you can make preparations to avoid these annoyances by finding bandages, torches for venturing into the dark underground train tunnels and sewer system, and files for helping to get out of the police cell.
The ZX Spectrum version lacks the colour of the C64 and Amstrad version but is much clearer thanks to the monochrome graphics.
For me, this was a thoroughly enjoyable game that was made all the better for me buying it at the excellent £1.99 price range that many games had back then. It’s a game well deserving of the 7/10 that C+VG gave it.
All is well as a human when you’re on the London Underground. Amstrad CPC.
Deadly Evil – Players Premier – ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC
Zombies and other monstrous creatures have invaded from the land of the undead, kidnapped the princess and stolen the ancient scrolls that protect the land (didn’t protect all that well then, did they?), and now it is up to players to journey through the dark forest, battle these monsters to rescue the princess and reclaim the scrolls.
It’s up to the only brave warrior in the kingdom to fight through the forest to collect all the scrolls and go to the eviltons castle where they are holding the princess. Should you be lucky enough to complete the game, you get the message “Well Done. You have rescued the Princess, but who will rescue her from you?”. It’s not a great ending, but hey, at least we get one.
Flowers and skeletons make a good mix in Deadly Evil on the Spectrum
The zombies and other monsters are faster than our brave hero, and they are incredibly agile for the undead. I can only think that the national pastime in the land of the undead is parkour.
Surprisingly, it looks as though no magazine on any platform has ever reviewed Deadly Evil, which is disappointing, as I’d love to read what their opinions of it were back in 1990. If they thought similar to me, they’d probably say the graphics are decent, the music at the beginning is good but let down by the gameplay. That’s not to say the gameplay is rubbish; it just doesn’t live up to the build-up the other aspects give it.
Leaving the princess behind on the castle level on the C64.
Domain of the Undead – Red Rat Software – Atari 8-bit
In this 1986 title, players must reach the quiet house that stands beyond the graveyard. What could go wrong with walking through a graveyard at night? Apparently, everything. As soon as you enter through the gates, all the vampire bats, skeletons, spooks and more wake up with the intention of adding you to their numbers.
Domain of the Undead was a difficult play for me thanks to the constant flow of enemies from all directions that take away your lives (indicated by Crucifixes), combined with the bullet-stopping gravestones. Fortunately, I played this on the emulator so didn’t have to put up with the extra challenge of the skeletons that flickered thanks to the developer’s software flicker trick.
This game is a bit of a celebrity in Atari 8-bit circles. Despite an initial critical review from Page 6 magazine that the game should have been a budget release, it gained popularity when it was rereleased in a compilation with three other games, one of which was the hugely popular Laser Hawk. It has since inspired the title of the book ‘Attack of the Flickering Skeletons: More Terrible Old Games You’ve Probably Never Heard Of’ by the YouTuber Stuart Ashen.
There were actually two skeletons on the screen at the time, but thanks to the flicker I could only capture one at a time. C64 version.
Ghouls – Micro Power – BBC, Acorn Electron, Amstrad, Commodore 64
In this lovely little title from Micro Power, players take control of a little yellow circular character with legs, who has the enviable task of liberating the power jewels from the haunted mansion at the top of the hill. No one has ever returned from the mansion, but now it’s the players’ turn to try.
Players have to make their way through the Spectres’ Lair, Horrid Hall, the Spider’s Parlour and Death Tower and avoid the spike traps, spiders, ghosts and other horrors, while making use of moving floorboards and springs to reach out-of-the-way platforms.
Players start with four lives, but thanks to the need for pixel-perfect jumping, falling down gaps, the timer that makes you rush, and forgetting that the moving platforms don’t move you with them, these go down very quick.
This was one of the earliest games I remember playing on the Acorn Electron and I loved it, though it was incredibly frustrating to my very young self. It’s an incredibly fun game, especially for those who like a very challenging game.
Acorn User wrote in their review that “Ghouls is a great game with superb sound, fair graphics and enough problems to keep the player trying.”, while Personal Computer Games gave it 7/10, calling it addictive.
Took me about ten attempts to get this far on the first level. BBC Micro version.
Jack the Ripper – CRL/ St. Bride’s School – ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC
I don’t normally cover adventures in these articles as a wall of text doesn’t usually do well as a screenshot. However, Jack the Ripper also has illustrations scattered throughout the 3-part story, and it was these that earned the game the accolade of being the first computer game to be issued an 18 certificate by the BBFC.
This adventure starts in part one, with us taking the role of an innocent, well-dressed gent journeying through the foggy streets of Whitechapel, when all of a sudden we see another toff leaving the scene of a very gruesome crime. Unfortunately, we are discovered touching the body and murder weapon and are pursued through the area. Part two has the player avoiding police while seeking out proof of their evidence, and the third and final part requires the player to find absolute proof of their innocence and the real identity of the Ripper.
There’s been a moider on the Commodore 64.
This adventure doesn’t only follow the evils of humanity; there are all manner of occult happenings that will leave players scratching their heads as to what to do with this new information.
Jack the Ripper is certainly one of the better adventure titles out there, with a good amount of historical detail mixed in with fictional tales of demons and conspiracies. It’s certainly worthy of the 8/10 it earned from Sinclair User and the 9/10 from C&VG.
I don’t think Jack killed any blokes in Whitechapel, but who knows! C64 version.
That’s Halloween wrapped up for another year, I’m off to hide under the bedcovers before the ghosts and ghouls get me. Cheerio!
Andrew Newton
